AMT/ERTL Star Wars Jedi Fighter Kit First Look
By Michael Benolkin
| Date of Review | December 2005 | Manufacturer | AMT/ERTL |
|---|---|---|---|
| Subject | Star Wars Jedi Fighter | Scale | - |
| Kit Number | 38361 | Primary Media | Die Cast Metal, Styrene |
| Pros | Quick build | Cons | |
| Skill Level | Basic | MSRP (USD) | $12.95 |
First Look
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Long ago, in a galaxy far, far away (it seems like last year in my local theater), George Lucas completed his final installment to the Star Wars Prequel Trilogy depicting the rise of Darth Vader. In this episode, we're also introduced to the 'current' version of the Jedi fighter, which has evolved over the span of time of these first three movies. This version is still a few steps short of the familiar TIE fighter seen in the original trilogy.
AMT/ERTL has released this kit in styrene, but much to our pleasant surprise, they've also produced a kit version of a die-cast, pre-finished fighter as well!
The kit is packaged extremely well, so the likelihood of damage to your pre-battle-weathered starfighter is slim.
The kit features a die-cast upper and lower hull which is pre-finished and pre-weathered. The rest of the kit consists of twelve other pre-finished styrene parts and one pre-fabricated and pre-finished cockpit tub. Two of these parts make up the display stand.
A small bag containing eight screws and one hinge pin is also included to bolt the two hull halves together and hinge the starboard attack spoiler. The port spoiler comes pre-installed.
The instructions are well laid out, with the longest time spent in assembly on properly orienting the two engine nozzles so they would allow the hull rear affixed to the rear of the cockpit tub to fit into place. This was the only vague part of the instructions and a few minutes of experimentation revealed the proper orientation of the parts and assembly resumed.
The blaster barrels are trapped between the two hull halves and will not come loose again as long as the screws remain in place. A screwdriver is even provided in the kit to assemble the model.
With the eight screws installed, the model was mounted to the base and the project complete. Total time was less than 10 minutes.
This is a nice bit of pre-finish and weathering on this kit and looks great on my desk. At the suggested retail price above, this model is a bargain and will be a nice stocking stuffer for your child or for yourself! Definitely recommended.
My sincere thanks to RC2 for this review sample!